Sviatoslav Richter - The Complete Album Collection (2015)

Sony Classcial celebrates the art of Sviatoslav Richter (1995-1997) – one of the 20th century’s greatest pianists – with the first-ever release of his complete Columbia Masterworks and RCA Victor live and studio recordings in an 18 CD original jacket edition, underneath Richter’s legendary five October 1960 Carnegie Hall recitals.

Richter was already a legend in his native Soviet Union when he concertized in the West for the first time in 1960. Richter’s American tour that year not only consolidated the pianist’s international reputation, but also resulted the memorable recordings gathered together in this collection.

Richter’s five October 1960 Carnegie Hall recitals showcased the breadth of his repertoire from Haydn and Beethoven to Debussy and Rachmaninoff, with one program completely devoted to Prokofiev, a composer with whom Richter worked closely. Indeed, Richter’s success inspired Arthur Rubinstein’s ten-concert Carnegie Hall marathon the following season. The series yielded nine LPs, including two that only were released in Japan. Long treasured as rare collectors’ items, they appear here for the first time on CD mastered from the original analogue tapes.

Along with the December 26th Carnegie Hall recital brought out by RCA in 2001 as Richter reDiscovered, Richter’s December 28th Newark Mosque Theater recital receives its first integral release. The pianist’s 1960 RCA studio solo and concerto sessions, too, are justly acclaimed, and feature highly distinctive accounts of Brahms’s Second Concerto, Beethoven’s First Concerto, and three Beethoven sonatas.

Two RCA discs from 1988 concerts return to the catalog, revealing the veteran pianist’s undiminished power and concentration in Brahms’ early C major Piano Sonata, selections by Liszt, Etudes from Chopin’s Op. 10, plus a new recording of the Beethoven First Concerto. As a bonus, three Schubert works released in a 1977 Aldeburgh Festival anthology make their CD debut.

Reviews: In the 1950s, Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter was an almost mythical figure to music lovers in the West.
He was was forbidden to travel beyond the Iron Curtain.
Beginning in 1956, Deutsche Grammophon sent engineers to Prague and Warsaw to record Richter in improved sound,
but the pianist's big breakthrough didn't really come until 1960, when Soviet authorities finally allowed him to visit the West.
Between October 15 and December 28, Sviatoslav Richter embarked on an extended concert tour of the United States and Canada.
Thirty concerts in 75 days. Fifteen cities.

The two dominant American record companies, RCA and Columbia, each expressed an interest in recording Richter during his American tour.
First stop was Chicago where he performed Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto with Erich Leinsdorf and the Chicago Symphony on October 15, 1960.
Two days later it was recorded by RCA, which signed the pianist to a three LP contract.

Next stop was New York City and Carnegie Hall, where he embarked on a marathon of five recitals in twelve days,
October 19-30 (interrupted for a concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra on the 21st).
Six concerts in twelve days is actually something of a stunt, but it certainly caught the attention of the New York press.
[would any living pianist dare something like this?]
The recitals were not broadcast, but back then Carnegie Hall routinely recorded performances for the personal use of the artist, using their in-house microphone system, which unfortunately dated back to the 1940s (medium-fi mono, obsolete by 1960).

Columbia Records saw their opportunity, and negotiated a deal with Carnegie Hall and someone in the Soviet Ministry of Culture, allowing them to issue these taped recitals on LP.
Consequently all five recitals were released on ten mono LPs by Columbia Records.
RCA threatened legal action, claiming that Richter had signed an exclusive contract with them - at least for the American tour.
RCA convinced the pianist to sign a letter demanding that the Columbia LPs be taken off the market.
Columbia agreed to the recall and destroyed their inventory.
[the account in the booklet paints Columbia Records as the innocent victim of Russian perfidy.]

For 55 years, the few surviving LPs have commanded astronomical prices on the used record market.
The continued non-availability of the Carnegie Hall recitals has created a mystique around them that may or may not be justified.
Judge for yourself.
This is the most thorough documentation we have of Sviatoslav Richter in his absolute prime.
Twelve days of concentrated piano playing.
Unedited.

In response to popular demand, Richter returned to Carnegie Hall at the end of the tour for three additional concerts:
– On December 18, he appeared with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic (Concertos by Liszt and Tchaikovsky).
Unfortunately no recording session (Bernstein was a Columbia artist).
– The December 23 recital, all-Beethoven, was not recorded.
– The December 26 recital was recorded, this time by RCA using their own stereo microphones, plus a repeat program on December 28 across the river in Newark, New Jersey.
Highlights from both were issued on a single RCA LP in 1965.
The entire December 26 Carnegie Hall recital, plus the encores from December 28, were issued in a 2 CD set in 2005, "Richter Rediscovered".
The rest of the December 28 recital appears for the first time in this new box.

Luckily for us, RCA and Columbia are both now owned by Sony.
The Cold War is over.
After 55 years, we finally have a complete edition of Richter's 1960 American recordings:
Seven public recitals on 13 CDs + 3 CDs worth of studio recordings (2 concertos, 3 sonatas).

– October 17: RCA STUDIO RECORDING (Chicago) = CD 1
Brahms Piano Concerto 2 w/ Erich Leinsdorf, Chicago Symphony

– October 19: Carnegie Hall recital = CD 2+3
All-Beethoven program + encores by Schubert, Schumann and Chopin

– October 21: [Concert with Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra (Concertos by Dvorak and Brahms). Not recorded.]

– October 23: Carnegie Hall recital = CD 4+5
All-Prokofiev program

– October 25: Carnegie Hall recital = CD 6+7
Haydn, Schumann, Debussy

– October 28: Carnegie Hall recital = CD 8+9
Beethoven, Schumann, Rachmaninov, Chopin, Debussy, Prokofiev

– October 30: Carnegie Hall recital = CD 10
Schumann, Chopin, Ravel, Scriabin, Rachmaninov *

– November 2,3: RCA STUDIO RECORDING (Boston) = CD 11
Beethoven Piano Concerto 1 w/ Charles Munch, Boston Symphony

– November 29,30 RCA STUDIO RECORDING (New York) = CD 11+12
Beethoven Piano Sonatas 12, 22 and 23

– December 26: Carnegie Hall recital = CD 13+14
– December 28: Newark recital - same program = CD 15+16
Haydn, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Prokofiev
+ Dec 26 encores: Prokofiev: Visions fugitives
+ Dec 28 encores: Prokofiev, Debussy, Chopin
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* The October 30 recital on CD 10 is the only recital on one CD (73 minutes).
The four earlier recitals are on two CDs and average 95 minutes each.
[for a while I thought there might be some missing music, but this is the October 30 recital in its entirety.]

The original printed program featured Liszt's Piano Sonata in B Minor as the first selection.
At the last minute and after programs had been printed, Richter made the decision to substitute the Schumann Fantasie for the Liszt Sonata.
This still wouldn't account for the short program: The Liszt and Schumann are approximately the same duration.
There was only one encore [two nights earlier there had been seven encores]. Perhaps Richter was in a bad mood on the 30th.
You'd never guess from the evidence on this CD.
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SOUND QUALITY and PACKAGING:
11 of the 13 CDs devoted to the 1960 recitals have been newly mastered at 24bit/96kHz by Sony's chief engineer Andreas K. Meyer.
- The five October Carnegie Hall recitals, though mono, still sound pretty good. Better than I had expected.
There is not a lot of high frequency information on these tapes, but low and mid-range reproduce well.
I don't know how much high frequency information there was on the original tapes.
They have always had a bad reputation.
It was still a pleasant listening experience, once you get used to it.
- Meyer also mastered the December 28 Newark recital.
- The December 26 Carnegie Hall recital is the same Marion Conaty remastering used for "Richter Re-Discovered" (24bit/96kHz)
No complaints.

– If you're concerned about the sound of the October Carnegie Hall recordings, try Disc 9, Track 12 in the free audio samples provided by Amazon (or Disc 7, track 3 for some soft playing).

Studio recordings: Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto is a new 24bit/96kHz remastering by Andreas K. Meyer (at least the third time it has been remastered for CD).
Beethoven's 1st Piano Concerto and Piano Sonatas 12, 22 and 23 are XRCD remasterings by Kazuie Sugimoto of Sony Japan (they previously sold for $30/disc in North America).
Everything sounds wonderful to me. The piano in the Sonatas is a bit clangy, but that's an accurate reproduction of Richter's Steinway.
I may not be the best judge of sound - my ears are 65 years old (as is the rest of me).

"Original jacket" mini-LP format. Original cover art with program notes on the back.
Everything comes packaged in an attractive rigid cardboard box.
56 page booklet with essay by Jed Distler.
My only complaint is the lack of an index to the music on these CDs.

Sony used to get a lot of complaints about the difficulty of removing CDs from their two-CD cardboard jackets.
They must have listened, because this time two-LP sets are packaged as two single CDs with identical covers.
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After the 1960 North American tour, Richter's next Western appearance was another five-concert marathon, this time in London, July 8-18, 1961.
Some, but not all of this has been released on BBC Classics.
Unfortunately not in a systematic fashion.

Nearly all of Sviatoslav Richter's public recitals were recorded
- Authorized or not.
He is the most pirated pianist in recorded history.
There is an enormous data base of recordings:
From 1960 alone, there are five recordings of Chopin's Etude Op.10, No.1 in C to choose from:
Prague, Bucharest, Kiev, Moscow and New York.

I will not attempt a comparative analysis of Richter's recordings.
Way beyond my capabilities, and life is too short.
I do think this box is one of the best ideas that Sony has ever come up with.
And it doesn't even cost a lot.
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POINTS OF INTEREST:
– As someone will no doubt point out, the 75 day U.S tour was not actually Richter's first appearance outside the Communist Bloc:
Between May 10 and 15, 1960, he gave three recitals in Finland.
I don't think they were recorded.

– The account of the LP release of the Carnegie Hall recitals in the the Sony booklet goes into some detail.
It looks bad for Schuyler Chapin of Columbia Records:
Chapin asked the representative of MK (the Soviet Cultural Bureau) if this agreement had Richter's approval.
Soon after he received a telegram from Richter confirming his OK.
But the telegram was sent from Washington D.C at a time when Richter was in New York.
Apparently Chapin never made an attempt to contact Richter personally, relying on intermediaries.

– re the October 30 Carnegie Hall recital: the fine print on page 44 of the booklet reads: "Original LPs: ML6065/6 in set M2L312 (release cancelled)"
If the release had not been cancelled, I hope they would have corrected the glaring typographical error on the album cover: Schumann's Fantasia in C, Op.17 is credited to Schubert.
The actual first LP release was in Japan in 1979.

– The December 28 recital was given in the "Mosque Theater" in Newark, New Jersey.
No - It's not a real mosque. No connection to Islam.
The Mosque Theater (original name "Salaam Temple") was a 3500 seat auditorium built in 1925 by the "Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine", better known as the Shriners.
Still in use as an auditorium - renamed as "Newark Symphony Hall" so as not to offend.

The Shriners are a North American charitable fraternity (related to the Masons) founded in 1870.
They run children's hospitals and drive tiny cars while wearing red fezzes.
In the early years of the Twentieth Century, they built a lot of auditoriums.
In addition to the Mosque Theater in Newark, they built the 3700 seat "Syria Mosque" in Pittsburgh (1911-1991 R.I.P.) and the 4200 seat Medinah Temple in Chicago (famous as a recording venue for the Chicago Symphony), built in 1912 and still standing, though the interior has been gutted for use as office space.

– The October Carnegie Hall recitals were previously released on CD by the small Canadian label Doremi, but they were copied from commercial Columbia LP pressings, not the master tapes to which Sony has access.

– Sony's booklet claims that five selections are previously unreleased.
In fact, four were omitted from the Columbia LPs (and Doremi CDs), and are appearing here for the first time:
- Chopin: Etude Op.10, No. 12 in C Minor "Revolutionary" – October 19
- Debussy: Images Book II, No.1 - Cloches a travers les feuilles – October 28
- Prokofiev: Sonata 8, Op.84, finale encored – October 23
- Schumann: Novelettes Op.21, No.1, 2, 8 – October 28
See my comment dated January 24 for details.
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LATE RECORDINGS:
The 1960 Sviatoslav Richter was a far more fiery and risk-taking pianist than the mature Richter many of us have grown accustomed to.
Tremendously exciting.
As a bonus, the Sony box has two CDs of the mature Richter in concert at the 1988 Schleswig-Holstein Festival (previously released), plus some Schubert pieces recorded in concert at the Aldeburgh Festival.

CD 17 = Aldeburgh, 1977 (first CD release)
Schubert: Scherzo in D-flat D.593 / Andante in A D.604 / Four Landler D.366

CD 17+18 = Schleswig-Holstein, 1988
Beethoven: Piano Concerto 1 w/ Christoph Eschenbach, Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra // Brahms: Sonata 1 // Chopin: Etudes Op.10, No. 1-4,6,11,12 // Liszt: Etudes d'exécution - Harmonies du Soir / Hungarian Rghapsody 17 / Scherzo & March

The 1977 Aldeburgh Festival recordings on CD 17 were last seen on a CBS Masterworks 3 LP set sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Benson & Hedges (no engineer is credited).
The 1988 Schleswig-Holstein Festival recordings on CDs 17 and 18 appear to be straight reissues of the 1993 CD remasterings (no engineer is credited).

– Missing from the Sony box is the early '70s studio recording of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier that RCA issued on 4 CDs in 1992: Well-Tempered Clavier, The (Richter)
It was not an original RCA production, but was licensed from Melodiya.

Tracklisting:

CD1

Johannes Brahms (1822-1897)

Piano Concerto n° 2 in B-Flat, Op. 83
1 I. Allegro non troppo 16:45
2 II. Allegro appassionato 8:37
3 III. Andante — Più adagio 12:41
4 IV. Allegretto grazioso — Un poco più presto 8:46

Sviatoslav Richter - p
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Robert LaMarchina - cel
Eric Leinsdorf - dir

Recorded at Orchestra Hall, Chicago ; October 17, 1960



CD2 & CD3

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Piano Sonata n° 3 in C major, Op. 2 n° 3
1 I. Allegro con brio 9:49
2 II. Adagio 7:27
3 III. Scherzo. Allegro — Trio 3:14
4 IV. Allegro assai 4:38

Piano Sonata n° 9 in E major, Op. 14 n° 1
5 I. Allegro 6:21
6 II. Allegretto 6:16
7 III. Rondo. Allegro comodo 3:06

Piano Sonata n° 12 in A-Flat major, Op. 26
"Funeral March"
8 I. Andante con Variazioni 6:36
9 II. Scherzo. Allegro molto — Trio 2:45
10 III. Marcia funebre sulla morte d'un Eroe. Maestoso andante 5:42
11 IV. Allegro 2:48

Piano Sonata n° 22 in F major, Op. 54
1 I. In tempo d'un Menuetto 5:47
2 II. Allegretto — Più allegro 5:14

Piano Sonata n° 23 in F minor, Op. 57
"Appassionata"
3 I. Allegro assai — Più allegro 9:52
4 II. Andante con moto — attaca 5:54
5 III. Allegro, ma non troppo presto 7:34

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

6 Impromptu in A-Flat major D 899 7:35
Allegretto

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

7 "Aufschwung", Op. 12 n° 2 3:03
(from Fantasiestücke)

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

8 Etude in C major, Op. 10 n° 1 2:16

9 Etude in C minor, Op. 10 n° 12 "Revolutionary" 2:49

Sviatoslav Richter - p

Recorded at Carnegie Hall, New York ; October 19, 1960





CD4 & CD5

Serguei Prokofiev (1891-1953)

Three Pieces for Piano, Op. 59
1 N° 3 Sonatine Pastorale in C Major. Moderato 5:09
2 N° 2 Paysage, Op. 59. Allegretto — Moderato — Allegretto 3:11

3 Pensées, Op. 62 n° 3 6:33

Piano Sonata n° 6 in A major, Op. 82
4 I. Allegro moderato 8:31
5 II. Alegretto 3:56
6 III. Tempo di valzer lentissimo 6:50
7 IV. Vivace 6:40

Piano Sonata n° 8 in B-Flat major, Op. 84
1 I. Andante dolce — Allegro moderato — 16:16
Andante — Andante dolce, come prima — Allegro
2 II. Andante sognando 3:50
3 III. Vivace — Allegro ben marcato — Andantino — 9:38
Vivace, come prima

Encore
4 III. Vivace — Allegro ben marcato — Andantino — 10:01
Vivace, come prima

Sviatoslav Richter - p

Recorded at Carnegie Hall, New York; October 23, 1960





CD6 & CD7

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Piano Sonata in C major Hob. XVI:50
1 I. Allegro 9:30
2 II. Adagio 6:20
3 III. Allegro molto 2:53

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Noveletten Op. 21
4 N° 1 in F major. Markiert und kräftig 5:27
5 N° 2 in D major. Äusserst rasch und mit Bravour 5:40
6 N° 8 in F-Sharp minor. Sehr lebhaft 11:16

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Suite bergamasque
1 I. Prélude. Moderato (tempo rubato) 5:07
2 II. Menuet. Andantino 3:40
3 III. Clair de lune. Andante très expressif 5:39
4 IV. Passepied. Allegretto ma non troppo 3:39

Images, Book I
5 I. Reflets dans l'eau. Andantino molto 5:06
6 II. Hommage à Rameau. Lent et grave 7:25
7 III. Mouvement. Animé 3:16

8 L'Isle joyeuse. Modéré et très souple 5:58

Encores
Images, Book II
9 I. Cloches à travers les feuilles. Lent 5:23

Préludes, Book I
10 III. Le Vent dans la plaine. Animé 2:12
11 V. Les Collines d'Anacapri. Très modéré 3:16

Sviatoslav Richter - p

Recorded at Carnegie Hall, New York; October 25, 1960





CD8 & CD9

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Piano Sonata n° 7 in D major, Op. 10 n° 3
1 I. Presto 6:44
2 II. Largo e mesto 8:49
3 III. Menuetto. Allegro 2:54
4 IV. Rondo. Allegro 4:08

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Novelletten Op. 21
4 N° 1 in F major. Markiert und kräftig 5:12
5 N° 2 in D major. Äusserst rasch unf mit Bravour 5:34
6 N° 8 in F-Sharp minor. Sehr lebhaft 10:48

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)

1 Prélude in F-Sharp minor, Op. 23 n° 1. Largo 4:05
2 Prélude in A major, Op. 32 n° 9. Allegro moderato 2:23
3 Prélude in B minor, Op. 32 n° 10. Lento 5:19
4 Prélude in G-Sharp minor, Op. 32 n° 12. Allegro 2:12
5 Prélude in A-Flat major, Op. 23 n° 8. Allegro vivace 2:53
6 Prélude in C major, Op. 32 n° 1. Allegro vivace 1:06
7 Prélude in B-Flat minor, Op. 32 n° 2. Allegretto — Allegro — Allegretto moderato 2:50
8 Prélude in F minor, Op. 32 n° 6. Allegro appassionato 1:16
9 Prélude in F major, Op. 32 n° 7. Moderato 1:59
10 Prélude in B-Flat major, Op. 23 n° 2. Maestoso 3:27
Encores
11 Prélude in D major, Op. 23 n° 4. Andante cantabile 4:22
12 Prélude in G minor, Op. 23 n° 5. Alla marcia 4:02
13 Prélude in C minor, Op. 23 n° 7 2:39

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
14 Etude in E major, Op. 10 n° 3. Lento ma non troppo 4:28
15 Mazurka in C major, Op. 24 n° 2. Allegro non troppo 2:46

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

16 Cloches à travers les feuilles (from Images, Book II n° 1) 5:05

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1853)

17 Gavotte, Op. 95 n° 2. Allegretto 2:43
(Three Pieces from Cinderella)

Sviatoslav Richter - p

Recorded at Carnegie Hall, New York; October 28, 1960





CD10
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Fantasia in C major, Op. 17
1 Durchaus phantastisch und leidenschaftlich vorzutragen 13:54
Im Legenden-Ton — Tempo primo
2 Mässig. Durchaus energisch — Etwas langsamer — 6:35
Viel bewegter
3 Langsam getragen 11:12
Durchweg leise zu halten — Etwas bewegter

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
4 Scherzo n° 4 in E major, Op. 54. Presto 11:41

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
5 Pavane pour une infante défunte 7:38
Assez doux, mais d'une sonorité large
6 Jeux d'eau. Très doux 4:52
7 Oiseaux tristes (Miroirs n° 2). Très lent 3:54

Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
8 Sonata n° 5 in F-Sharp major, Op. 53 10:20

Encore

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
9 Prélude in G-Sharp minor, Op. 32 n° 12. Allegro 2:53

Sviatoslav Richter - p

Recorded at Carnegie Hall, New York; October 30, 1960



CD11

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra n° 1 in C major, Op. 15
1 I. Allegro con brio 16:29
2 II. Largo 11:48
3 III. Rondo. Allegro scherzando 8:43

Piano Sonata n° 22 in F major, Op. 54
4 I. In tempo d'un Menuetto 5:56
5 II. Allegretto — Più allegretto 4:58

Sviatoslav Richter - p
Boston Symphony Orchestra [# 1-3]
Charles Munch - dir [# 1-3]

Recorded at Symphony Hall, Boston ; November 2 & 3 [# 1-3] ; November 29 & 30 [# 4-5], 1960



CD12
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Piano Sonata n° 23 in F minor, Op. 57
1 I. Allegro assai — Più allegro 10:42
2 II. Andante con motto — attacca 5:57
3 III. Allegro, ma non troppo — Presto 7:03

Piano Sonata n° 12 in A-Flat major, Op. 26
"Funeral March"
4 I Andante con Variazioni 1:24
5 Variation 1 1:04
6 Variation 2 0:48
7 Variation 3 1:11
8 Variation 4 0:52
9 Variation 5 1:47
10 II. Scherzo. Allegro molto — Trio 2:53
11 III. Marcia funebre sulla morte d'un Eroe. Maestoso Andante 6:11
12 IV. Allegro 2:15

Sviatoslav Richter - p

Recorded at Webster Hall, New York City ; November 29 & 30,



CD13 & CD14

1 Applause 0:17
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Piano Sonata in C major Hob. XVI:50
2 I. Allegro 9:04
3 II. Adagio 6:03
4 III. Allegro molto 2:29

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
5 Scherzo n° 4 in E major, Op. 54. Presto 10:56
6 Ballade n° 3 in A-Flat major, Op. 47. Allegretto 7:09

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
7 Prélude in F-Sharp minor, Op. 23 n° 1. Largo 3:53
8 Prélude in A major, Op. 32 n° 9. Allegro moderato 2:25
9 Prélude in B minor, Op. 32 n° 10. Lento 5:28
10 Prélude in G-Sharp minor, Op. 32 n° 12. Allegro 2:09

Maurice Ravel(1875-1937)
11 Jeux d'eau. Très doux 4:11
12 La Vallée des cloches (Miroirs n° 5). Très lent 6:11


1 Applause 0:17

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1853)

Piano Sonata n° 6 in A major, Op. 82
2 I. Allegro moderato 8:34
3 II. Alegretto 3:47
4 III. Tempo di valer lentissimo 6:58
5 IV. Vivace 6:14

Visions fugitives, Op. 22
6 N° 3. Allegretto 1:15
7 N° 4. Animato 0:51
8 N° 5. Molto giocoso 0:17
9 N° 6. Con eleganza 0:23
10 N° 8. Comodo 1:31
11 N° 9. Allegretto tranquillo 0:52
12 N° 11. Con vivacità 0:54
13 N° 14. Feroce 0:53
14 N° 15. Inquieto 0:34
15 N° 18. Con una dolce lentezza 2:01

Sviatoslav Richter - p

Recorded at Carnegie Hall, New York; December 26, 1960





CD15 & CD16

1 Applause 0:21

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Piano Sonata in C major Hob. XVI:50
2 I. Allegro 9:08
3 II. Adagio 6:08
4 III. Allegro molto 2:48

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
5 Scherzo n° 4 in E major, Op. 54. Presto 11:23
6 Ballade n° 3 in A-Flat major, Op. 47. Allegretto 7:39

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
7 1 Prélude in F-Sharp minor, Op. 23 n° 1. Largo 4:02
8 Prélude in A major, Op. 32 n° 9. Allegro moderato 2:23
9 Prélude in B minor, Op. 32 n° 10. Lento 5:22
10 Prélude in G-Sharp minor, Op. 32 n° 12. Allegro 2:38

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
11 Jeux d'eau. Très doux 4:40
12 La Vallée des cloches (Miroirs n° 5). Très lent 7:11

1 Applause 0:13

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1853)
Piano Sonata n° 6 in A major, Op. 82
2 I. Allegro moderato 8:45
3 II. Allegretto 3:46
4 III. Tempo di valzer lentissimo 6:47
5 IV. Vivace 6:35

6 Applause 0:12

7 Gavotte, Op. 95 n° 2. Allegretto 2:37
(Three Pieces from Cinderella)
8 Vision fugitive Op. 22 n° 4. Animato 1:21

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
9 Les Collines d'Anacapri (Préludes I n° 5). Très modéré 3:06

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
10 Etude in A-Flat major, Op. 10 n° 10. Vivace assai 2:12
11 Etude in C minor, Op. 10 n° 12. Allegro con fuoco 2:53
'Revolutionary'
12 Mazurka in C major Op. 24 n° 2. Allegro non troppo 3:01

Sviatoslav Richter - p

Recorded at Mosque Theatre, Newark, New Jersey ; December 26, 1960





CD17

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Sonata n° 1 in C major, Op. 1
1 I. Allegro 8:03
2 II. 2. Andante 5:41
3 III. Scherzo (Allegro molto e con fuoco) 5:19
4 IV. Finale (Allegro con fuoco) 6:09

Franz Liszt(1811-1886)
5 Consolation n° 6 in E major S 172 n° 6 2:47
Allegretto sempre cantabile
6 Hungarian Rhapsody n° 17 in D minor S 244 n° 17

Scherzo and March S 177
7 Scherzo 3:58
8 March 7:05
9 Harmonie du soir in D-Flat major S 139 n° 11 10:03
(Etudes d'exécution transcentante)

Franz Schubert(1797-1828)
10 Scherzo in D-Flat major D 539 n° 2. Allegro moderato 6:17
11 Piano Piece in A major D 604 5:24
12 Four Ländler D 366 n° 1, 3 4 & 5 5:56

Sviatoslav Richter - p
Recorded at Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Lübeck, ; July 10, 1988 [# 1-4] ; Stadthalle
; July 4, 1988 [# 5-9] ; & Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh, September 27/October 2, 1977 [# 10-12]



CD18

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra n° 1 in C major, Op. 15
1 I. Allegro con brio 18:37
2 II. Largo 11:23
3 III. Rondo. Allegro scherzando 9:11

Frédéric Chopin(1810-1849)
Etudes Op. 10
4 N° 1 in C major. Allegro 2:12
5 N° 2 in A minor. Allegro 1:29
6 N° 3 in E major "Tristesse". Lento ma non troppo. 4:03
7 N° 4 in C-Sharp minor. Presto 1:59
8 N° 6 in E-Flat minor. Andante 3:24
9 N° 11 in E-Flat major. Allegretto 1:49
10 N° 12 in C minor "Revolutionary". Allegro con fuoco 2:35

Sviatoslav Richter - p
Orchestra of the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival [# 1-3]
Christoph Eschenbach - dir. [# 1-3]
Recorded at Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Flensburg ; June 7, 1988 [# 1-3] ; Hasselburg ; June 10, 1988 [# 4-10]




Thanks to the original releaser